Maiko Drabbles A to Z
by maiko forever
Summary: Twentysix chapters of drabbles about Mai and Zuko. Some are sad, some are sweet, but all are Maiko!
1. A is for Atychiphobia

**A is for Atychiphobia**

Mai was sure Zuko had atychiphobia, the fear of failure. He tried so hard to do his best, not to fail. He also freaked out whenever he even came close to losing. Zuko's mother realized this early, and Mai did, too.

She became in full knowledge of Zuko's fear of failure when he failed to help his uncle in the catacomb that one day. At the palace in Ba Sing Se, he seethed anger out of every pore, though he acted to be mad at Azula. As the victorious princess left her brother to swell in her glory by herself, she left Mai to supervise him. He stared at the wall, ready to blow fire at anything that decided to upset him.

Mai got up from the seat she was sitting in, and sat next to Zuko instead. He slid further from her, but Mai only decided to scoot closer. Zuko stared at her. _What is she doing?_

"It's not your fault, Zuko," she said. He just continued to look at her, but with less anger.

"Yes it is," he said. "Uncle needed me, but I chose to side with Azula instead. I…" Zuko couldn't finish his sentence.

"...Failed him," Mai finished. "Yes, you did." Zuko looked towards the ground, and she saw a single tear drop hit the ground. He leaned against her, and Mai did what she could: hold him and tell him that everything would be okay.

She knew it would be, too. Mai had fears, as well; everyone did. But she didn't let her fear get in the way of helping Zuko right when he needed her.

Yes, Zuko let his fear of failure play a part in his life.

But Mai was yet to learn from her fear: the fear of getting too attached to someone.


	2. B is for Baking

**B is for Baking**

Nearly every woman in all four Nations learned how to bake by the time they were sixteen. Even royal girls learned this necessity, in case something were to happen that the royal family had to lay low for a while and the only way they could feed themselves is the woman's skill at cooking. Azula could bake by age twelve; she was a prodigy at firebending, so she decided to excel in what Ty Lee liked to refer to as "cakebending." Azula would make the mix, and quicker than her mother could say, "Be careful not to burn yourself, darling," the girl would've blasted the cake with firebending, cooking it to perfection.

Mai however, didn't have the talent Azula had. Try as she might, something would always go wrong. On one occasion, she messed up the flour-to-milk ratio and somehow caused it to explode. On another, Mai had tried to imitate Azula's cakebending technique. But instead of firebending, Mai tried to do it with spark rocks and, as she was soon to find out, a _very flammable _substance her mother used in her hair. Not only did the fire singe her hair and, for that matter, the rest of the dining room, but the cake ended up burnt and tasted too much of hair lotion.

A thirteen-year-old nobleman's daughter had no real need to learn how to bake until they were married. But sadly for _this _thirteen-year-old nobleman's daughter, her crush's birthday was coming up. And Mai knew that the Fire Nation prince would love nothing more than a fresh cake baked with love.

"Okay, twentieth time is the charm," Mai had told herself. Then again, she told herself that every time she was about to start a doomed cooking project. Ty Lee had offered to help her make the mix, and even Azula offered to cook it. But Mai insisted on doing it herself. The least she could do, however, is to take up the princess's offer to use the royal kitchen with expensive ingredients.

Everything was set up on the table and the book of recipes was open to "Golden Dragon Fire Cake": Zuko's favorite. Even Azula and Ty Lee were standing in the archway leading to the kitchen ready to watch the show. And what a show it was.

By the time the cake mix was ready, there was flour all over the counter, milk on the floor, and eggs on the ceiling ("Don't ask," Mai later told people who asked about the situation). Sometime during the process, Azula left due to laughing so much her sides hurt, and Ty Lee brought Zuko in to watch the fiasco.

"Ty Lee! The cake was supposed to be a surprise," Mai groaned. Zuko gave Mai a smile.

"Don't blame her. I wanted to help," he said and picked up a towel to wipe up the floor.

"I'll just leave you two alone, then," said Ty Lee with shiny eyes and a big smile as she meandered away. Mai and Zuko chuckled a little and continued to clean. When they were done, Zuko stood and stuck his finger in the cake mix and ate some.

"Eeew," Mai said, "You just ruined it." Zuko smirked and stuck his finger in it again.

"Like that?" he said.

"Yes, now stop it." Mai made a disgusted face and walked towards him. In response, Zuko wiped some batter on Mai's nose. "Hey! Stop it." Mai laughed.

"Make me," he said and put more on her forehead. She put her hand in the bowl to and held it back. "Don't you dare," Zuko laughed. She launched it at him, and it hit the prince square in the face. "Now you've asked for it."

Zuko took handfuls of batter and flung it at the young girl and Mai did the same to him. They were laughing all the while and getting the kitchen messy all over again. In less than a few minutes, cake mix was everywhere, minus the bowl and above a fire to bake. The two teenagers had the mess all over their clothes and faces.

"You have something on your nose," Mai told Zuko. He went cross-eyed trying to look at it. "Let me get it," Mai giggled. She wiped it off with her fingers and ate it. Zuko laughed and told her that that was gross.

"You have something on you, too," he said admiring Mai's face. He took her chin in his hand. "Right about… here…" Zuko kissed Mai on the cheek. She blushed and looked away. Zuko pulled her face back to look in her eyes.

"And here," he said and kissed her lips. She was taken aback at first, but soon Mai relaxed. It was pure bliss. That is, until she heard a gasp.

"Yuck! Ty Lee, what did I tell you about leaving Mai and my brother alone?" It was Azula. They broke apart and stared at her. "Gross, Mai. That's the last time I offer you to cook in my kitchen," she said and stomped away. Mai just smiled and looked back at Zuko.

_Twenty must be my lucky number, _she thought, and kissed him again.


	3. C is for Children

**C is for Children**

Zuko loved children. From the time he could earliest remember, the Fire Nation prince always dreamed of having kids one day. Even when he was traveling the globe, searching for the lost Avatar, Zuko's dreams nagged him about forgotten goals: to get married and having many sweet children. Besides that, Zuko was great with children; take, for instance, the time when he was all alone, and he ran into the Earth Kingdom boy, Lee. When the war was over, especially, Zuko reassessed his priorities.

Mai never disliked young ones, either. The noblewoman had experience with kids, considering all the time her parents left her alone with her younger brother, Tom-Tom. Even if she didn't show it, she adored her kid brother; the way he babbled and tugged her ponytails made her smile on the inside. Mai wanted many things for her life, and having children ranked way up high on her list. Of course, before hand, she wanted to get married to the right guy. When she traveled the world with Azula and Ty Lee searching for the Avatar and Zuko, Mai had put any hope of finding The One and having kids past her. She only remembered past ambitions when Zuko joined their group. For months, Zuko and Mai were great friends. In the end, they fell in love.

After their victorious battle against Ozai and Azula, many of the world's heroes decided to settle down, some with each other. The waterbender, Katara, reunited with an old friend, an earthbender named Haru, and got married while producing a couple of babes along the way. Even Avatar Aang found love with his blind, earthbending teacher. Even the new Fire Lord decided to settle. So soon, Zuko had wedded Mai. As reigning Fire Lady, making an heir (or heiress) was a heavy stress on her, so when she and Zuko were blessed with news of being with child, husband and wife couldn't have been happier.

Nine months went faster than the two parents-to-be had ever expected. When her water broke, all of the Fire Nation knew that Mai would be giving birth very soon. After all, her scream of bloody murder was said to have rung throughout the entire country. As they rushed to the palace's infirmary, Mai's and Zuko's anticipation only grew more; they would soon both have their dream come true! But their dreams were soon crushed by the healer in the Royal Delivery Room.

"There are complications with the baby," the doctor stated sadly. Mai went paler than she usually was, and squeezed Zuko's hand even more than she was two seconds earlier.

"What do you mean by 'complications,' doctor?" Zuko said while tearing his hand, which was quickly losing circulation, away from his wife.

"I mean," the healer said, wiping his brow, "Is that there are problems. We just checked Lady Mai here, and according to the position of the child's body, we have no more than a few minutes to get it out safely." Mai nearly fainted at the news, and Zuko suddenly got very angry.

"And to top it all off," the doctor continued, "The only way to save the unborn child is to either pray for a five-minute miracle, or to suture open Fire Lady Mai and drag it out, killing her in the process." Mai started to cry. "I'll give you a moment to talk it over." He left the room.

After being silent for a minute, Mai made the decision. "I don't care what happens to me, Zuko," she said seriously, "I'll do whatever it takes to save the baby." But Zuko was already shaking his head no.

"I'm not losing you, Mai. There will be more chances at children, but I swear, if you die, I will never love again." He kissed her hand, and after much influence, Mai agreed.

"As much as we distress this," Mai told the doctor, "We decided that maybe this is an omen that we are not yet ready for children." The doctor nodded his head, and told them that all they had to do was wait for the child to die inside of Mai.

The Fire Lord and his Lady silently prayed to Agni, though, that maybe there would be some way to save the baby. It was nearly an hour after the bad news arrived, and the child's heartbeat had not yet died. After one last check, the doctor looked up at the would-be-parents and smiled.

"There's still hope!" he said excitedly. "The baby's position seemed to have changed in the past hour, so we think that you can make the delivery safely." Zuko and Mai laughed and cried with joy.

With the doctor's happy words, nurses arrived into the room with blankets and hot water. As Zuko sponged her head, Mai pushed her hardest. _It's for the baby, _she told herself every time she felt like giving up. Finally, just at sunrise on the first day of summer, the baby was born.

As Mai cradled the babe in her arms, she cried silently and thanked the spirits for her gift and her strength. As Zuko gazed down at his newborn daughter, he thought of what she would be named. The baby girl had his golden eyes and Mai's beautiful face shape. The child was determined enough to be born, and like her parents, did not give up. She was already proven to be a headstrong stubborn thing. And with that, the two parents decided a name.

Princess Ursa.

So, Mai's and Zuko's dream of a child came true with enough hard work. They kissed each other in the light of the delivery room. They discussed how beautiful Ursa was, how close they had come to losing her, but most of all, they wondered if she would be a fire bender, like many in her family had. The new baby answered their question by sneezing, thereupon igniting the doctor's robes aflame.


	4. D is for Death

****

D is for Death

Zuko walked down the halls of the Fire Palace. It was well into the night, maybe around four in the morning. He couldn't sleep, due to the circumstances at the time, so he decided to take a walk. At eighty years old, the Fire Lord held up pretty well. Zuko had no health problems minus a slight limp in his leg; that was probably caused by traveling too much around the world. He touched his hand to a cool, alabaster pillar. He remembered a time when he and his sister would swing around them.

"Azula," he whispered into the night. "You were a tyrannical demon, but boy do I miss you." The late princess had perished along with her father in the Final Battle of the One Hundred Year War. Zuko chuckled to himself and continued on his midnight stroll. He went outside to the courtyard; the one with his favorite willow tree and the turtleduck pond. He recalled the times he spent with his dear mother under the tree.

The Fire Lord kept walking until he reached his destination: the main courtyard. He sat at the fountain and looked at the stars, hidden behind the large tree. Zuko remembered all the times his sister and Ty Lee had attempted match-making between him and Mai.

_Little did they know that it would actually work out one day, _he thought. True, at first, Mai was just a crazy girl to Zuko; one of Azula's friends. But when the war was over and he was announced un-banished by Fire Lord Iroh, Zuko had time to get to know the girl more. And the more Zuko spoke with Mai, the more friendly they got. In the end, Zuko had fallen in love with the young woman; they were married when he was twenty years of age.

Now, over sixty years later, his love for Mai could never have been stronger. But sadly, her time was running out. Thinking of this, Zuko stood up and walked to the royal bed chamber. When he got inside, he sat on the bed and peered down at his beautiful bride.

Mai had aged, as many do, but Zuko couldn't have cared any less. So had he. She looked basically the same, only now she had gray, nearly white, hair. She was still beautiful to his eyes. Zuko became very sad at the thought of what was happening to his wife, though. A little less than a year prior, Mai had taken ill.

"I'm fine," she had told her husband. "It's just a bug. I'll be-" Mai didn't finish her sentence, due to a bad fit of coughing. Mai _was _fine for a few months, even though she hadn't gotten any better. It wasn't until she collapsed in the dining hall one day that Zuko took her to the palace's infirmary.

"What's wrong with her?" Zuko asked the doctor.

"We're not sure," the healer answered. "But we know it's not good. She's not going to last too much longer." They might as well have told Zuko that _he _was dying; it would've hurt him just as much. Once proven not contagious, Mai was allowed to sleep again in her and Zuko's quarters.

"What will I do without you, Mai?" he asked his sleeping wife, stroking her cheek gently. She awoke and started to sit up, only to lay back down with exhaustion. "Don't get up, darling," Zuko told her.

"What are you doing, Zuko?" she asked, her voice hoarse.

"Just watching you sleep," he said dreamily. Mai croaked a laugh.

"That didn't sound creepy." _Same sense of humor_, Zuko thought.

"I'm sorry," he said. "It's just that I never know how much longer I can do that before…." He trailed off and was suddenly sad all over again.

"Oh, Zuko," Mai said softly and held his hands. "I have a feeling I'm not going to last through the next few days."

"Don't talk like that-"

"No, listen to me." Mai's voice was suddenly shaky. "I don't have a lot of time at all. I need to tell you some things before it's too late." Zuko nodded, so she took this as her cue to continue.

"I want you to know," she said, "That I love you more than anyone else in the world. Well, maybe not the children." She laughed a little. It was true; Mai was the best mother to their daughters, Ursa and Ira, and she put them above anyone else.

"Anyway, I want you to tell our children that I love them and the grandchildren to death. And I don't want you to mourn for me when I'm gone. I want you to live the rest of your life at your happiest. Maybe you should retire and let Ursa and her husband take over the Nation?

"I also want you to know that I'll always be with you, even if I'm not here in body." She stopped.

"Is that all?" Zuko asked and she nodded. A small tear swept down his cheek.

"Oh don't do that," Mai said, her voice obviously cracking. She wiped his tear away with her thumb, then leaned up and kissed him tenderly. He returned the favor. When they stopped kissing, Zuko looked up and out of the window. The sun had risen.

"I should probably go out there and say good morning to our family," Zuko said and started to get up. Mai grabbed his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"I love you," she said, "So very much."

"I love you, too." Zuko gave her a final kiss. As he exited, he looked back at his wife, who gave a feeble smile and fell straight to sleep. He closed the door and walked into the dining hall.

"Good day, Father," his eldest daughter, Ursa, said to him through a smile. "How's Mom?" Zuko smile and hugged his daughter.

"She gives her love," he said. "I was thinking. I believe it's about time for me to retire." He turned to his child. "Do you think you're ready to become Fire Lady, Ursa?"

"Oh, dear! Yes, I'm ready! Thank you, daddy," she said and kissed her father.

"What about your husband?"

"Oh, I'm sure Fudo is ready! Thank you again." Ursa ran off to tell her husband the great news. Zuko smiled. He went into the kitchen, only to remember he wasn't hungry.

_I might as well go to bed, _he thought, _I didn't get any sleep at all last night. _Zuko walked to his chamber. Somewhere between the kitchen and his room, he felt a bad feeling. As fast as his leg would let him, the Fire Lord rushed to his room.

He arrived just as a servant was rushing out. The servant nearly collided into Zuko.

"What's wrong?" he asked the woman, who was very flushed and looked afraid. As best as she could without breaking down, the woman servant told Zuko that she had checked on Mai, but the sick woman looked odd. The servant had walked up to the bed, only to find out that the Fire Lady had just recently died in her sleep.


End file.
